Still has the 'enhanced' selector and an AKM front sight but otherwise it's kosher. The wood on it did seem to be laminated plywood and actually did look very nice. Didn't appear to have a steel FCG, but I was told it's been tweaked to improve reliability, so maybe there are small steel reinforcements put in here and there, a la the SVD.

2

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I feel like they did that long ago. I still have a stock WE ak74u with over 100k rounds through it. Only point of wear is the back of the bolt. I did glue a small piece of sorbo on the hammer though. Either way, if they did add a little extra to it, I think it'll last as long as their AR variants.

Really, WE has improved their recoil rod guide, or something around there. So now it has GHK-like 700+ RpM and better efficiency, while keeping the full travel bolt. And I wouldn't be surprised if they did improve the trigger unit too. This gun, and any WE AK produced in the last year and a half or so, is a true beast.

GHK still has some extra steel bits and bobs here and there, and much wider range of models available. But at this point the RoF advantage has gone away, and that sorts the deal on WE's side.

To get a GHK to be as good as a WE, it would take:
- Adding W&S full travel kit
- Adding W&S steel bolt, as the full travel kit would destroy the original one
- Adding Maple Leaf hop chamber, as the original is hideous (worse thing about GHK AKs is their horrendous hop)
- Adding Maple Leaf inner barrel to go with that chamber.
That means quite some work and twice the added cost of a WE. And it still will have the dead trigger on empty, and still won't perform as good as a stock WE, let alone a Maple Leaf'd WE.

At this point in time, to get a GHK you really, really have to be a fan. Or just value the extra steel parts (minor things such as the sight blocks), or the wider range of models available.

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Strange. Redwolf did a video on this as well, but in their video the firing rate is slow and chunky like the other WE AKs. Is the AST video showing some kind of short stroke kit, or maybe a different version?

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I had a pretty heated argument (at least on my side) with Red Wolf's Tim about it...

They recognised the slow cycle is due to the low powered version... Which they failed to mention in the review. Also failed to mention the existence of the dry fire switch. And claimed that KWA had a 74, which they don't. That review is so poorly made it's enraging to watch.

According to Tim, they ordered the low powered version because the standard one said 400+ FPS, "and they didn't know exactly what that + meant, so couldn't risk it to go above 2J (465FPS)". Which is idiotic, as they sell the AK PMC that has the exact same internals and barrel length as the 74, and know damn well it shoots 430 at most

Edited May 23 by Dimitri MdP

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The low or high power version of the nozzle has absolutely nothing to do with the rate of fire. thats not how they work. regardless of the velocity of the bb, the same amount of gas is used per shot, so theres something else going on there.

If anything, the low power nozzle should have the greater recoil, as more gas is directed backwards toward he bbu.

Edited May 24 by Brigg

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In theory that's not how they work but if there is a sealing issue with the lower power nozzles, that's going to impact ROF. That's how I interpreted it anyway. There's speculation the one in their video is faulty.

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The low or high power version of the nozzle has absolutely nothing to do with the rate of fire. thats not how they work. regardless of the velocity of the bb, the same amount of gas is used per shot, so theres something else going on there.﻿

I agree that changing the nozzle (either with a modified floating valve that rest further forward or a different nozzle output diameter) shouldn't affect the RoF. But If I understand correctly, It's not just a low powered nozzle, but a low powered version gun meant for the Japan market. So most likely it has a weaker recoil spring for the 134a / 144a to be able to push the bolt carrier back, which means slower return to battery, which in turn means slower RoF.